MY HERO FANTASIA BOOK 1: THE START
by DougWalkerJumpScareOnMyGenital
Summary: A stupid fanfic story inspired by an outro to an anime I don't even really like. Young Izuku Midoriya lives in the fantastical realm of Academeos, fueled by the legendary tale of ALL BRIGHT, the ultimate hero who defeated the Lord of Darkness. Izuku lacks a class of his own, however, and must find a way to forge his own path to legend in a world of quests and monsters.
1. Chapter 1

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS EARLIER

A thick, black darkness permeated the battlefield. In fact, darkness permeated everything. The ground? Darkness. Trees? Darkness. Chairs? Darkness. Cows? Also darkness. You name it, darkness permeates it. This is why, hundreds of years in the future, scholars would refer to this period as The Age Of Darkness. While this name is not a very creative, it is pretty accurate.

Everything was _so_ enveloped in darkness that no one had any hopes otherwise. They were pretty content, more or less. Except for one warrior. One warrior who, in a blaze of heroic passion and fury, stood against the darkness.

"I WILL STAND AGAINST YOU!" cried the mighty hero, ALL BRIGHT.

"You will break beneath the shadow like a twig, puny mortal!" returned the hero's enemy, the vile Lord of Darkness. His title isn't super creative, but again, it's pretty accurate.

The Lord of Darkness had never been opposed before. It was his first time, and historians generally agree that he might have been a little nervous. Given that his reign was unchallenged for thousands of years, it was probably pretty odd that someone was finally standing up to him.

"You pollute a beautiful realm with your vile darkness, fiend!" ALL BRIGHT declared as he stood alone against the villainous lord. "So long have you sit on your throne, growing arrogant in your rule!"

The Lord of Darkness was pretty tired of ALL BRIGHT's monologuing. He decided to totally vivisect the annoying hero. Hoisting his titanic blade, the Sword of Darkness (humor the name), he brought a woeful blow down upon ALL BRIGHT.

"Die, worm!" screeched the Lord of Darkness.

The earth around the lord and the hero rumbled and cracked, molten rock and vicious fumes erupting from the scars and raining down upon them. The wind howled and whipped into a whirling storm, buffeting them. The skies ruptured and let loose a downpour that flooded around them. It was not an enjoyable experience.

And yet, as the Lord of Darkness brought his blade down, he peered through the cataclysm his wrath had awoken and saw that the hero still stood, meeting the Blade of Darkness with his own burning, shining sword.

The Lord of Darkness felt a mixture of emotions he had never before felt. Shock, confusion, surprise. But most distasteful and alarming of them all was, the Lord of Darkness realized, something he never would have believed that any force of man or nature would elicit in him. Yet, here he stood, before a warrior of light, feeling that very thing.

The Lord of Darkness felt, deep in his belly, a twinge of _fear_.

The hero of light, ALL BRIGHT, struggled as he held off the weight of the Blade of Darkness. But his conviction and strength did not falter. Indeed, they only grew as he stared his adversary down. His own sword grew brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter and, like, really it got like REALLY bright. Like they call him ALL BRIGHT mostly because of this one moment.

The Lord of Darkness began to stagger backwards. Somehow this tiny, puny human was defying him! (It should be mentioned that the Lord of Darkness is like fifty feet tall or something like that). His Blade of Darkness, a monstrous and unwieldy tower of a sword, was choked by the shining light as if a timber log set aflame.

"N-no!" cried the Lord of Darkness. "HOW CAN THIS EVEN BE?!"

"I will tell you why!" called ALL BRIGHT. "There have always been those that fought against your tyranny! I am not the first… I am merely the last!"

"You lie, worm!" the Lord of Darkness accused.

"I speak the truth!" ALL BRIGHT countered. "All of their collective efforts, all of their planning and bravery! It all comes to this one last, final moment!"

"DIEEEEEE!" demanded the Lord of Darkness.

"No!"

ALL BRIGHT thrust his sword upward, the Blade of Darkness shattering into a thousand tiny little dark pieces. Thunder and lightning raged in the skies above, even as all that lava and flooding from before still ripped the battlefield asunder.

ALL BRIGHT made his own demand as he prepared for one final attack. "Remember these words, villain!" he cried. "For they are the sacred promise that foretells this moment! And I will teach you what they mean!"

The Lord of Darkness had no words. The brightness was too bright. Right in his freaking eyes, it didn't even matter if he closed them. It was ALL BRIGHT (get it?).

ALL BRIGHT looked up to the swirling heavens and called out in a voice that rang across all the realm. "GO BEYOND!"

Bringing his sword back even as it shined brighter and hotter every moment, ALL BRIGHT decreed "PLUS… ULTRA!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT EVEN MEANS?!" the Lord of Darkness cried.

"DETROIT… SLAAAAASSSHHH!"

"WHAT'S A _DETROIT_?!"

In one final stroke of the blade, the Lord of Darkness was obliterated completely. If you play the official _Boko no Hiro Akademia _soundtrack song "You Say Run", this part would happen right around the 2:28 mark in order to punctuate the epic feel of the scene.

The earth shook. The sky shook. There's nothing else left after that to shake, so pretty much everything shook. The Lord of Darkness was defeated completely. He could never come back, ever. Never. Well, maybe he could. Or, well, probably not. Or maybe. No one was entirely sure at the time.

ALL BRIGHT stood at the top of a mountain peak, watching the darkness fade away. Lakes and oceans were blue. Grass was green. Shadows and dark stuff were still dark, but that was okay because it's only natural and it's not all that much so no one minded.

Everything ALL BRIGHT and his predecessors had worked for had come to fruition. The realm was free of its cruel and immortal ruler. Thus ended the Age of Darkness. ALL BRIGHT hoisted his glowing blade into the shining rays of the sun, his crazy hair waving in the wind.

He shouted the first words to grace the newly freed realm of Academeos.

"_PLUS ULTRA_!"

No one knew what it was supposed to mean.

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS LATER

(Present day)

PRESENT NARRATOR: Yo, and hello Ladies and Gorgons! I'm your pumped up and totally omnipotent dungeon master and narrator! The legend of the hero ALL BRIGHT has been recorded and passed down from generation to generation! It's something that totally inspires all of the adventurers of Academeos to go out there and make their own kind of noise! Everyone is trying to top those XP charts and move on to the next highest level! Who will become the next legendary hero of Academeos? Who will prove that their Class is the most viable for high level content?! Probably not the kid we're about to look in on, but let's drop that needle and see what he's got anyways!

Izuku Midoriya traced the letters inscribed on the weathered parchment scroll with his eyes. He'd read them countless times before, but he always took his time to appreciate them as fully as if it were once again his first time.

He also had a horrible habit of muttering along with the dialogue as he read them, which made him more than a little weird to everyone he unknowingly did it around.

"Remember these words, villain!" he muttered.

This was his favorite part. The stage play adaptation was pretty good, but nothing beat the vivid and live scenes he created in his own mind as he read. He pictured ALL BRIGHT, a towering and muscular figure of blazing light as he heroically stood before the fiendish Lord of Darkness.

Hanging on to each word of the tale, Izuku couldn't help but sometimes picture that it was not ALL BRIGHT defying the Lord of Darkness, but he himself- Izuku Midoriya- that was the legendary hero. His belly always stirred and he felt heat behind his eyes when he got to this part.

"PLUS...!" he muttered at a volume fairly louder than he'd previously been using.

"ULTRA!" he cried, almost at a yell.

There he was! Izuku, the class-less boy from a tiny village in Academeos, cutting down the Lord of Darkness and ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity to all the realm! His muscles rippling in the freed sunlight, his glorious and luxurious hair flipping in the righteous breeze. Held aloft in his mighty grip was the now legendary blade SUN FOR ALL. He was the hero! Everyone loved him! Tears welled in his eyes, as they always tended to do when his fantasy hit such a fever pitch.

"Yes…" he exalted. "I will protect everyone! The legendary hero, Izuku Midoriya…!"

The door to Izuku's room creaked open. Like a knife in the back, Izuku scrunched up on himself, nearly dropping his scroll to the floor.

"Izuku?" his mother, Inko, quietly spoke. "Are you reading your scroll again?"

"N-no, mom!" Izuku lied. "I was just… I…"

"Oh, honey." his mother entered the room. "What does 'plus ultra' even mean?"

Izuku, his face red and his eyes wet with passionate tears, was at a loss for words. At this point he was hoping either his mother spoke quickly and left the room, or that his head exploded. He'd prefer the latter.

"I'm glad you're practicing reading and everything but I still wish you'd go out and play with the other kids sometime!" Inko paced across the room and opened the wooden flaps of window, letting in the sunlight.

"You're always holed up in here wasting candle wax!"

"M-mom…" mumbled Izuku.

"There's low level monsters all over the woods outside!" Inko offered. "You could even take your father's old blade! It's only 1+ to Might, but it would be a good starter weapon for you!"

"Yeah, but…" Izuku began to protest.

Inko flinched, her chubby cheeks widening as she realized her mistake. "N-no!" she deflated.

"I didn't mean- I mean, it's… plenty of adventurers don't ever pick a class!" she attempted to fix the moment, her own eyes tearing up.

"It's okay…" Izuku muttered, defeated. He peered out the doorway of his room, where his father's old sword hung above their clay fireplace. The noon light reflected off of its blade with a dull sheen.

"Um-" his mother began. "Why don't you go out and chop some firewood?!"

Izuku broke away from the sword and glanced to his mother. "Hm?"

"Yeah, some firewood!" she asserted. "We need firewood and it'll give you a little bit of XP and…"

Izuku sighed. "Yeah, okay."

"Oh honey…" Inko whined as Izuku walked out of his room and went to retrieve the woodcutting axe.  
Izuku opened the storage chest and equipped the woodcutting axe. He'd been inside all day, and he figured his mom was right. Maybe he needed to get out a little bit.

Inko watched from the window and Izuku walked out to the chopping stump and began splitting timber.

PRESENT NARRATOR: Oh, boy! Looks like this guy doesn't even have a class! Let's turn up those dials and get a closer look at his stats!

IZUKU MIDORIYA

Age: 14

Race: Human

Class: Adventurer (Classless)

Level: 4

Gear: Peasant Garb (+100 Defense against Nudity), Woodcutting Axe (+5 damage to Wood)

PRESENT NARRATOR: Wooooww! He _sucks_!

"Kids my age are usually at least in the early teen levels," Izuku thought to himself as he brought the axe down on a hunk of wood. The log splintered and cracked cleanly down the middle. +5 XP. A drop in the bucket, but it was something.

"But it's not like I have any Class Talents to help me…" another swing of the axe. +5 XP.

He'd tried fighting monsters before, but it always took so long to defeat them and no one ever wanted to invite someone without a class to their parties. What good was it, anyways? Another log gave way to the blow of the axe. +5 XP.

They were right to not invite him. He'd just soak XP… and for what purpose? To level up? What good was it?

He didn't have a class…

The axe fell. +5 XP.

_So what good was it_?

The axe fell again, but this time it lacked the force to split through the log.

"Oh, Izuku…" Inko spoke from through the window.

He would never be a hero. He'd never be ALL BRIGHT. The familiar feeling of self-loathing and guilt began to pick at the back of his mind. He felt embarrassed on a deep, spiritual level that he even bothered to fantasize about being a hero. He may or may not have been mentally aware of the fact that he was crying while feebly attempting to split another log.

Snot and spittle cascaded down his face as passerbys gave awkward stares. From the window, Inko attempted to cover her own tears.

"Oh, Izuku! I know!" she cried. "W-why don't you go into the village square and buy some apples! I'll make a pie tonight! Doesn't that sound nice?!"

"A- a pie s-sounds like it would be r-really…" Izuku stammered on his words as a disgusting myriad of oral and optical fluids combined in a visible puddle at his feet.

"Just go!" Inko called. "You have coins in your pouch from yesterday's shopping!"

"R-right!" Izuku nodded, trying to wipe away the incessant flow of flagrant fluid from his forlorn face. "Okay!"

Izuku set the woodcutting axe down and marched off into town, his mother trembling in her own bout of teary-eyed sadness as she watched her son attempt to march into the house to prepare for a trek into the village, attempting to put his melancholy behind him.

PRESENT NARRATOR: This kid is one sorry sonata! Yeesh! But at least he has dear old mom to help him through his days! Speaking of which, let's play peeksy on what momma's got under the hood!

INKO MIDORIYA

Age: 41

Race: Human

Class: Mage

Sub-Class: Gravity Mage

Level: 17

Gear: Tasteful Peasant Blouse (+20 to Housewifing, -1 to Fire Resistance)

Izuku trudged down the dirt path into town. His father's old blade hung at his back and in a pouch at his side he carried a minor healing potion. Monsters very rarely wandered onto the roads, and even when they did they were of little threat, but it was still good to always be prepared.

Their village was a sleepy one, not many young people stuck around for very long after they selected their class. It was mostly normal folk or retired adventerors. They didn't have much in the way of merchants, either, so rarely did anyone have a reason to stop by their humble community.

Across the grassy fields, off to the edge of the forests beyond, Izuku watched a gang of children rush to the trees. They couldn't be any older than six or seven, but they were all touting beginner gear and weapons. No doubt they'd all recently selected a class and were eager to grind out their first levels of XP.

What good was it, anyways? Good luck to them, he hoped they'd all become splendid adventurers. Meanwhile, Izuku could stick to his stories…

The village square came into view as Izuku rounded the bend of a small hilltop.

There was never much to observe when looking down at the village square. Just the same old shops with the same old brown or red shingles sitting in the beaten dust of the well-worn square.

Or, at least, that was how it was on every day except today.

Izuku's jaw actually dropped. There was a crowd- a pretty big one, too- gathered in the square. That would be unusual enough by itself, yet it was made even more outstanding by the fact that most of the people in the crowd (far from Izuku as they were) were visibly dressed in hard shining armor or flowing enchanted robes. These weren't ordinary townspeople, these were adventurers! There were so many of them!

Izuku felt the immediate urge to rush down and find out what the abnormality was all about. Why were so many adventurers here?! Some of them looked pretty high level, too. He held out a foot forward, but stopped.

What good would it do? Why did it matter? It wasn't for him, and he had no business bothering whatever quest or objective they were all after.

Izuku stopped in the dirt. He should just go home. He frowned, and felt more tears. He didn't want them to see him cry, anyways…

He lowered his head. Yeah, home was where he belonged. Go back to reading stories of real heroes that he could never be. He turned…

And bumped directly into someone.

Izuku fell on his butt, taking 1 damage.

"Ow!" Izuku groaned, rubbing his damaged booty. He snapped to attention, however, as he realized he had obviously bumped someone else to the ground as well.

He looked up, and beheld an incredibly cute girl rubbing her own booty. Her auburn hair spilled from her billowing hood, and in one gloved hand she kept a firm hold of a knotted cane.

Izuku stared, bewildered. It was an adventurer! And she was really pretty!

"Ow, I think I landed on my manabuns!" the adventurer complained. Suddenly, she seemed to notice Izuku. In a shocked gasp, she jumped to her feet.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized. She offered a hand, though Izuku was too flustered and stupefied to take it.

Izuku tried to manage words, but all he got out were choked gasps and a couple of weird noises akin to sick hiccups. He pulled himself to his feet.

"You must be a villager?" the adventurer asked. Izuku nodded, sweating bullets.

"Oh," the adventurer spoke back, clearly picking up on the awkward vibes. "I'm sorry I bumped you over!"

"..." Izuku attempted to croak.

"The village square is right down this way, right?"

Izuku nodded like limp daisy in a rainstorm.

"Well, thanks!" the adventurer said, giving a smile.

She rushed past Izuku, who was left gawking.

"Did… did I really just talk to that girl?" Izuku thought as he stiffly waved to the departing adventurer.

He did not talk to that girl.

Oh well. It would be nice to follow her, but… No, there was no point…

Izuku frowned and sighed again. How he wished…

He quietly turned to head back home. Looking at the path ahead, his eyes perked up. A small leather pouch was left in the dust before him!

Izuku bent down and examined the pouch. Did it come from that girl adventurer?

"I mean, it wasn't here before when I walked by. And then the girl bumped into me and she fell, so by simple process of elimination it's obviously not like it belongs to anyone else, as no one other than her had been on the road… and it makes sense that she dropped it during the fall, and…"

"Hey, Izuku!" a passing farm boy called out as he lead a herd of goats across the road. "Quit muttering to yourself, you weirdo!"

Izuku practically fell to the ground. "Uh, right…" he squeaked back.

The farm boy passed and left Izuku to worry about the precarious pouch. It didn't belong to him, but he figured he'd at least get a better look at it to determine if it really did belong to the girl.

Plucking it from the ground, Izuku gave it a looking. It was, by all accounts, pretty unassuming at first glance, but there was a slight heat to be felt from whatever was inside. Izuku slid a thumb under the flap of the pouch and flipped it open.

He gave a quiet gasp as he looked at the contents. Faintly glowing blue crystals. Mana gems! The girl was obviously a mage or wizard class of some kind… so these were obviously pretty important resources for her.

He couldn't just let her run off without them! He turned, but the girl was already nearly out of sight. All to be seen of her was her bobbing hood as she drew into the village square. Izuku's wits and nerves steeled. He wouldn't let her lose these! She was an adventurer! She needed them!

He didn't think. He didn't debate with himself. He ran after her. Maybe he didn't have a class, maybe he would never be an adventurer. But it didn't mean he'd let someone down. He clutched the pouch of mana gems. He'd return them to the adventurer, class or no class!


	2. CHAPTER 2: THE REST OF THE BEGINNING

BOOK 2: THE REST OF THE BEGINNING

PRESENT NARRATOR: Wow! Looks like Izuku is actually going to go give that adventurer her mana gems back! Talk about facing the fears of your own inadequacy!

Izuku ran as fast as he could after the mage girl. All of his stats were pretty low, even for his level, but his speed was at least adequate. He opened his mouth to shout out to her, but couldn't bring himself to actually say anything. So he kept running, trying to ignore his compounding anxiety.

They were both almost to the square by the time Izuku actually caught up with her.

"Uh, h-..." Izuku croaked.

"Huh?" the mage girl turned. "Oh! You're the villager from before."

Izuku's lips were glued to his teeth, which were also glued together. "Y-you… you…" he held out the pouch of mana gems in a trembling arm.

"What?" she questioned, unsure of what Izuku's strange offering was meant to be. She looked at the pouch for a moment before the dots began connecting in her brain. "Oh, oh my gosh!"

She held out a hand and after a few incredibly awkward moments, Izuku eventually realized she was expecting him to hand the pouch over.

"I must have dropped these when we bumped into each other, right?" She opened the pouch to inspect the gems inside. She tied the pouch back around the belt at her waist and smiled at Izuku. "Thanks, it was very nice of you to return them."

She was so nice, Izuku thought. Even if she thought he was just a villager (he WAS just a villager). Her gear didn't look very high level, either… was she a new adventurer? He'd never seen her in any of the nearby villages before. And those mana gems were all lesser mana gems… so she was under level 5? Maybe she'd be nice enough to actually…

"I... I am not just a villager." Izuku robotically stated, his jaw as rigid and square as a metal box.

The mage girl stood before Izuku, wondering what to make of the crying, awkward mess. "You're not?" she asked.

"No!" Izuku shouted with more force and aggression than he meant. "I, uh, I actually, uh…"

"Oh!" the mage girl chirped. "You must be here for the elite quest, then! I guess I should have guessed, since you have a sword. It was pretty rude of me to assume you were just another villager, but I figured there wouldn't be anyone who'd be more late than me to get to the quest giver."

Izuku was paralyzed. She was so polite and pretty and her hood looked so cute on her and her hair was so nice, how did she keep it so clean while traveling? And…

"Uh. Are you okay?" she asked, snapping Izuku out of his stupor.

"UM, yeah! I'm… fine." Izuku stammered.

"Well you have a sword, right? That must mean you're a melee class?"

Izuku said nothing.

"Hm," the mage considered. "I'm going to say… maybe a Fighter? Or did you go Swordsman? You don't look like a Warrior, I think…"

"I, uh…" Izuku's throat solidified. There's no way she'd ever invite him to her party if she knew the truth… but he couldn't lie…

Fortunately she changed the topic, though unfortunately it ended up being even worse for Izuku.

"Well what level are you?" she asked.

Level. Right. Level, he could do this. This was an easy one. "I'm level 4, but I'm like halfway to 5!" Izuku answered quickly. It was a lot easier to talk to a girl when some small amount of confidence could ground his mind.

"Oh…" the girl frowned. "That's pretty low, especially for this quest."

Izuku almost fell off his feet. She thought his level was LOW?

"I'm level 12," she said. It landed like a boulder on Izuku's head. "I mean, it's a level 20 quest but that's why everyone's partying up!"

She frowned again as she considered Izuku. "But, I mean… 4 is pretty low."

Well, that was that. He'd just go home and go to bed and die.

PRESENT NARRATOR: Looks like the kid couldn't hit the right note to save his life! Too bad for him! Let's check out the mage while we're here, though!

OCHACO URARAKA

Age: 15

Race: Human

Class: Mage

Sub-Class: Gravity Mage

Level: 12

Gear: Adept's Robes Of Levitation (+5 to Mana, +10 to Gravity Manipulation. Enchanted: +3 to Hood Size), Warpwood Staff (+10 to Intellect).

"Are you trying to find a party?" Ochaco asked.

"N… n…" Izuku lipped.

"Well, you should really pick up some quests in town!" she suggested. "I saw a lot of level 3 quests and a few level 5's. Melee classes always have an easier time doing lower level stuff before you get your class abilities, so you should be just fine!"

"Y-yeah…" Izuku agreed.

"I mean… it's just, you're so low level… I'd help, but with the reduced XP and everything it would probably be better to just do it on your own…" Ochaco tried to let Izuku down gently.

Izuku swallowed and tried to fight back the tears he felt behind his eyes. "Yup! Just me! I'm going to go pick up some quests! In town!" he lied. He marched past the girl and went off down the road, heading towards a fork in the path that would lead into the rest of the village separate from the square.

Ochaco felt a pang of guilt. "I…" she tried to protest, but Izuku was already well on his way. Besides, she was already so far behind that she needed to move quick if she wanted to be the one to complete the quest. With a solemn focus, she ran off on her own path. She didn't even realize the gaze of Izuku that followed her every step as she rushed into the square.

"I mean, it makes sense," Izuku muttered to himself. Far more composed now that he was alone, he had begun to reason things out in his brain. "I'm almost level 5, which means if I pick up a full quest log worth of quests, between the turn-in XP and XP I'll get while doing the quest objectives… That should be enough to get to at least level 8… It's not like anyone quests here anyways unless they're just leaving the village… and the pretty mage girl said everyone was here for a level 20 quest, so none of them will waste time on low levels, which means there should be plenty of quests…"

"Geez, kid," the blacksmith complained. "Do you want the quest or not?"

Izuku jolted, his muttering halted. "Uh… yeah, yes! Yes I would like the quest!" he stood at attention. He had never accepted a real quest before, so he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do.

"What level are ya?" the blacksmith questioned.

"Uh, level 4," Izuku answered.

"Level 4?!" the blacksmith was flabbergasted. "How old are you?"

"Uh…" Izuku couldn't find the answer.

"Yeesh," the blacksmith groaned. "I took you for one of the visiting adventurers, at least.

Doing some low level stuff for the gold reward, but you're tellin' me you actually need the XP?"

"S-sorry…" Izuku meekly apologized.

"Tsh," the blacksmith pinched his teeth together. "This is a level 2 quest. I'll reward 300 XP and 20 Copper Brights."

"I accept," Izuku muttered.

The blacksmith seemed to realize how rude he was being towards the boy. He crossed his muscular arms and sighed. "Look, kid, an orcling stole my anvil hammer. All I need you to do is to track him down through the village and get the hammer back. Last I knew, he was to the northeast, between the village inn and the potion vendor."

Izuku took out his map, scanning around the village.

"Uh, excuse me," Izuku asked.

"Eh?" the blacksmith raised a brow, wondering why Izuku hadn't left yet.

"Could you, uh… well, would you be able to…" Izuku bashfully twiddled his fingers together. "Do you think you could… you know… mark it on my map?"

The blacksmith cried out and slapped his forehead. "Oh jeez, kid! You can't even just follow directions?!"  
"I-I'm sorry!" Izuku apologized.

"Have you ever done a quest before in your LIFE, kid?!"

The corners of Izuku's eyes were bubbling with tears and he tried to explain himself to the fuming blacksmith. "I- I mean, I've done chores and stuff… that's how I got most of my XP."

"Ugh," the blacksmith groaned. "Just get going and get my hammer!" he barked as he snatched Izuku's map and placed a quest marker upon it.

"Y-yes sir!" Izuku took off running in the direction of the quest. He got a few feet away before the blacksmith shouted him back. He had forgotten his map.

Izuku walked through the village street, strolling past the humble homes and business fronts. He passed by the armorsmith's shop, where all the fledgling warriors, knights and other plate-affluent classes bought their very first kits. Of course, without a class, he had no armor affluency and thus benefitted from none of the defensive stats or bonus attributes.

A pair of young men stood in front of the shop, inspecting a rack of basic bronze chest plates.

"Hey, old man!" one of them called out to the crotchety armorsmith who was sitting in front of his wares. "Don't you have anything higher than level 9 armor? Any enchants?"

The old armorsmith inhaled a chestful of his wooden pipe and billowed the foul smog out his nostrils. "What you see is what I got. This is a beginner's shop, after all. I have +1 to Defense scrolls if you're interested. I've got a pair of iron gauntlets, too, but I'll have to get them out from the back room."

The young warrior scoffed. "That's newbie stuff," he complained. "Come on, let's get out of here."

He and his companion turned and promptly walked off. The old armorsmith seemed to pay them no more further mind than that.

Izuku hung his head low. The bronze armor looked so cool, he couldn't imagine being so strong that he'd actually look down on it as being so useless like that. Not that he could imagine even wearing armor at all, of course.

He looked at his map again. He was getting close to the location of the orcling. His quest details told him the orcling was only level 2 and knew no special abilities. He'd defeated the occasional monster before. There were loads of level 1 and 2 monsters in the surrounding woods, all of your expected variety. Wolves, bandits and a rare orcling or mud troll. Sometimes level 5 bosses would show up, but it wouldn't be long before a group of eager kids teamed up to take them down.

Honestly, Izuku couldn't believe he was actually doing a quest. He was supposed to be getting apples for his mother… but she'd understand, he thought. Common rule of thumb was to put off doing quests until you got your class, so you could maximize the amount of rewards and XP you'd get. When he never got a class, Izuku just kind of never did any quests.

But this would be a good learning experience. He took the lowest quest he could find, in order for it to serve as a kind of test run. Once he completed it, he'd move up to some of the level 3 quests he passed earlier.

He didn't have a class, and he was woefully underleveled for his age; but as he walked through the streets with this face buried in his map, following a blinking quest objective with his father's sword slung over his shoulder, Izuku dared to feel like an adventurer. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Turning a corner, Izuku winded onto the street that the orcling was at the end of. Just a couple more blocks down and he'd find his target in a small alleyway near the end of the road. It would be a bit of an effort to defeat the orcling but though Izuku lacked any armor affluency, even a Classless could learn to use all of the basic weapon types. He already had basic sword mastery, thanks to inheriting the skill from his father. And, afterall, his mother was right. There had been more than a few high level adventurers without a class before.

Nearer and nearer he grew to his quarry. It would be a relatively quick and simple battle, but he'd be ready for it all the same. He gripped the handle of his sword and pulled it from its scabbard. At some point in time it may have been a decent blade, but the ages passed since its forging were well reflected on its dulled, chipped edges and rusty fuller.

"Here I go," Izuku thought to himself as he approached the alleyway. "My first quest!"

He readied his blade and with a sense of urgency and purpose he rarely felt outside of the time he spent reading the tale of ALL BRIGHT, he leapt around the corner of the alleyway and stood to meet his foe… who was laying on the ground, defeated.

"Wuh…?" Izuku questioned. The orcling was on the ground, its crude club laying beside its lifeless body. It burst into a puff of smoke. 25 XP.

"Only 25 XP?! That's like, 30% less than what it should've given me!" a grunty voice complained.

Izuku, still quite confused, peered into the darkness of the alley. He spotted two figures in the shadows. One was small with an odd lumpy head, the other's curvaceous form was bent into one of argument and annoyance.

"That's what you get for trying to killsteal!" the curvy one shot back. Wait a second, Izuku recognized that voice!

He stepped into the alley, bringing the pair into view. It was the girl from before! She was arguing with some short guy that Izuku didn't recognize.

"Hey, I'll have you know that the blacksmith put me on this quest because he recognized that I'M destined to upgrade to Hero Class." the short one proclaimed.  
"With quest etiquette like that you'll be lucky to ever hit level 20!" the mage girl, Ochaco, argued back.

The short one hefted his axe upwards. "Deny me now if you will, my darling! But in the end, when I'm the new ultimate Hero, all the babes will throw themselves at my feet!"

"The only thing I'd ever throw at you is-" Ochaco noticed Izuku.

"Oh…" she stopped herself. "It's you, from before."

"...Hi," Izuku squeaked.

"Aw man, don't tell me this guy is partied with you," the short one complained.

"N-no!" Izuku immediately cried. "She's not, we're not partied!"

"I mean, I was gonna say," the short one sheathed his axe and crossed his stubby arms. "You're like level 2 or something?"

"He's level 4!" Ochaco butt in.

"She… stood up for me," Izuku thought, his face turning bright red.

"Well I'm about to pop a ding before accepting the elite quest!" the short one proclaimed. "Thanks for the help, babe."

"You killstole me!"

"No need to thank me!"

MINORU MINETA

Age: 15

Race: Halfling

Class: Warrior

Sub-Class: Grape

Level: 9

Gear: Rusty Iron Chainsuit (+15 to Physical Defense, -5 to Magical Defense), Iron Axe (+3 to Might, requires both hands to wield for Halfling and Gnome races)

PRESENT NARRATOR: A halfling warrior! Don't see many of those, and not just because of their size! Looks like this one has a high-pitched ego to contrast his lack of verticality!

"Yup," the short one spoke as he began walking out of the alleyway. "My name is Minoru Mineta. You should remember it, because I'm totally going to get to level 99 and upgrade to Hero. Right after I complete the elite quest and get that sick XP reward, of course."

Minoru walked out of the alley and started heading down the street, towards the village square.

Ochaco and Izuku shared a moment of silence before Ochaco smiled, causing Izuku to flinch. "Sorry about him," Ochaco apologized. "I was just doing the blacksmith's quest when all of a sudden-"

Her words were cut off by a shrill scream that came from outside the alley.

Izuku, thoroughly paralyzed with shock, stood helplessly even as Ochaco rushed by him to investigate the source of the cry.

"Whoa!" Ochaco exclaimed. "Where did THIS come from?!"

"I dunno!" wailed Minoru. "I was just on my way to accept the elite quest when it popped out of nowhere! Get it off!"

Izuku realized what a useless coward he was acting like. He shook his head. He couldn't let them face whatever trouble they were confronted with alone… even if all he ended up doing was getting in the way, he had to do something!

Izuku spun around the corner of the alley and stood beside Ochaco, gazing upon the lump of sentient goo that was attempting to consume small Minoru's leg.

"This feels so weird!" Minoru shouted as he tried fruitlessly to shake his leg.

"What is it?! A monster? Or is it some kind of spell? A goo trap?" Ochaco puzzled.

Minoru screamed as the goo climbed its way over his knee. In panic, he swung his axe at the goo, but to little avail.

"It's got such a high defense…" murmured Izuku.

"Get. It. OFF!" Minoru pleaded.

"If it's resistant to physical, try magic!" Izuku stated.

Ochaco jolted as if zapped. "O-oh!" she fumbled. "You're right!"

The mage conjured a basic wind blast. Holding it between the palm of her hand and the tip of her wooden staff she instructed the wiggling and chopping Minoru.

"Hold still! I need a clear shot!"

Minoru reluctantly did his best to remain stationary, his chubby mouth pulled into a fearful scowl and snot bubbling from his nose.

"Wind blast!" Ochaco cried as she flung the magical gust towards the goo. A strong burst of wind buffeted all three of the fighters as the wind struck its target. A small dent was formed in the slime, but the attack appeared to do little else.

"Magic resistant, too…" Izuku's brows scowled. Minoru's cowardly frenzy was back with renewed vigor in the wake of Ochaco's failed effort. Izuku studied the goo. It seemed to be moving slowly, and from all accounts it wasn't really harming Minoru… and it was only very slowly overtaking him.

"W-what do we do?" Ochaco muttered as she observed the slime breaching up to Minoru's supple buttocks.

"Argh!" Minoru was crying. "I don't want to die like this! I wanted to be suffocated by a hot girl's BOOBS! Not THIS!"

"Try calming down!" Izuku in instructed.

"...Huh?" Minoru blinked back his tears.

"It looks like moving is making the slime quicker…" Izuku reasoned. "And if it's resistant to physical and magical attacks, then…" Izuku put a finger to his mouth for a moment as he thought.

"D-d-do soomethiiing!" Minoru begged, his cheeks a waterfall of tears.

"Do you have a subclass?!" Izuku snapped to Ochaco.

Now it was Ochaco who flinched back at Izuku's domineering of the situation. "Uh… yeah, I'm a gravity mage. I mean, I know Basic Float…"

"Basic Float?" Izuku's eyes lit up. "That's great! Can you make him float?!"

"Well… of course," Ochaco said, looking down towards the squirming Minoru.

Izuku wasted no time. He rushed to Minoru's side. Pulling out his father's sword, Izuku stabbed as deep into the slime as he could. It felt like pushing through a slightly mushy rock, but by leaning on the end of the blade with all his weight, Izuku managed to dig a few inches into the resilient sludge.

"Now, make him float!" Izuku ordered.

"Uh-" Ochaco stammered, before nodding. "Right!"

Casting her spell, Ochaco flicked her fingers and Minoru began lifting from the street as if weightless.

"Ahhhh!" Minoru screamed. "This isn't better at all! I'm gonna die!"

Izuku stood firm as Minoru raised several feet above the ground. It was just Basic Float, but Minoru weighed little enough that it gave him a little extra lift. This was good, because every inch was going to count…

The goo, connected to both Minoru and Izuku's blade, was lifted into the air. Izuku pulled himself a few steps back, fighting against the slime as it attempted to reform itself back into a tight ball of ooze.

Ochaco initially had no idea what Izuku had in mind, but as she watched the goo stretch between the blade and the halfling, she began realizing the plan. The goo was being pulled thin as Minoru rose further and further into the air. Maybe part of its defense was high stats, but stretched as it was…

"Ochaco!" Izuku grunted as he held tight to his blade.

"I know!" Ochaco readied another wind blast. Taking careful aim at what she gauged to be the thinnest bit of slime, Ochaco hurled her attack.

This time the slime gave way to the concentrated strike and split into two. As it did, its form lost viscosity and fell to the ground in splashy puddles.

With the sudden loss of resistance, Izuku fell to his butt. He smiled. "It worked!"

Ochaco threw her hand up in cheer. "It actually worked! We did it!"

Minoru screamed as he bounced through the air. "GET ME DOWN!"

"Oh right," Ochaco recalled. She tapped her staff and Minoru fell to the cobblestone with a thud.

"Holy BRIGHTNESS you guys!" raged Minoru as he picked himself up. "That was so risky! Don't you know I could've DIED?!"

"Yeah, but it worked." Ochaco argued.

Minoru gave a defiant glare as he picked his axe up, but said nothing more of the matter.

"Careful!" Izuku warned, his focus still on the goo. The warrior and mage snapped back to their slimey foe, watching the puddles take shape again.

"Oh come on! Isn't this thing dead yet?!" Minoru whined.

It looked like the fight wasn't over yet. Izuku gulped and readied his blade. How much use would he be in a straight battle? Guess he didn't have a choice but to find out…

...Or maybe not. The slime, reformed into a round blob, suddenly seeped into the street as if it had melted. And then it was gone.

"Huh?" Izuku gaped.

"It's like it vanished into nowhere…" Ochaco clutched her staff.

"That's what happened when it attacked me!" Minoru leapt. "I was just walking when all of a sudden, it came right out of the ground and tried to EAT ME!"

Izuku's face beaded with sweat. This was an extraordinarily powerful ability. They couldn't be sure if the slime had really fled or if it was about to mount a counterattack… his mind raced with possibilities and potential reactions when he was shaken by his companions.

"That was such quick thinking, though!" Ochaco beamed, smiling at Izuku in a way that made his brain melt.

"Yeah, it wasn't like I didn't have the situation under control but it was still pretty smart." Minoru said as he hefted his axe over his shoulder.

"I thought you must be a fighter or warrior before," mused Ochaco. "But that was such a good plan. You must be a Tactician?"

"Psh," Minoru sneered. "His plan wasn't THAT great. He must be subclass Strategist or something."

"Well…" Ochaco raised a finger to her chin. "What class ARE you?"

Izuku was frozen stiff. "I…"

"Yeah, what's your class, dude?" asked Minoru.

Most people got their class on their fourth or fifth birthday, just when they were barely old enough to start holding their first weapons. Some got them a little later… and Izuku remembered each of his birthdays passing without ever choosing his class. He remembered how his mother would try to console him, and how they'd both break down crying in each other's arms.

"I…"

I don't have a class. Izuku knew it. That's just how it was. He could feel tears swelling up behind his eyes again, even as he tried his hardest not to cry.

"I…"

A thunderous commotion erupted through the atmosphere. Cries of panic, dozens of them, were ringing out. It was coming from the village square!

"H-hey!" Minoru stuttered. "What is it now?!"

"It's coming from the village square!" said Ochaco.

"Aw man! It can't be more of those slime things!" Minoru's face dropped.

Izuku rushed to the corner of the street, peering around the stone building and into the square. He gasped at what he saw.

"What is it?!" questioned Ochaco as she brushed up behind Izuku. Izuku's face burned red as he felt the mage's breasts push against his back.

"Yeah, lemme see!" Minoru barged in between Izuku's legs. The rough metal of his iron cowl hammered into Izuku's crotch.

Mage and warrior gaped in shock as they looked upon the village square. A throng of adventurers had gathered to accept the elite quest, and they were now a pandemonium of fright and confusion. Globs of slime attacked adventurers and townsfolk without discretion, and in the middle of it all was a great behemoth of miasmic sludge, towering over the scene with bulging yellow eyes and rows of sharp fangs.

"Oh man! Oh man!" Minoru was shaking, which was quite painful for Izuku given that the halfling was currently between his legs.

"All those adventurers!" Ochaco exclaimed as the trio watched the sludge monster's sticky tendrils sweep scores of fighters from their feet. "They're not a match for the monster even all together! What level is it?! Where did it even come from?!"

"T-that's the boss monster from the elite quest!" Minoru said from between Izuku's legs.

"That's the boss?!" Ochaco was shocked. "But there's no way that thing is in the level range of the quest... what's going on?!"

Izuku's instincts perked in his mind. He turned his head… and saw a whole wall of sludge zooming towards them, enveloping the entire street!

"Everyone, move!" Izuku shouted. Minaro and Ochaco, spotting the sludge for themselves, quickly obeyed Izuku's warning.

The three ran out into the square just as the wave of sludge broke out of the street behind them, falling into a thick pile of goop that bubbled and convulsed in a pile nearly as tall as Izuku.

The square was in absolute chaos. Izuku could hear a booming, menacing voice that seemed to be laughing. No doubt it was coming from the boss monster, whose void-like mouth was curled into a sick grin.

"This isn't right at all!" Ochaco looked over the din, her cute face twisted in distress.

"Aaaargh!" a man in gleaming steel plate armor cried as he was thrown through the air like a stick. He landed only paces from Izuku.

"H-how?!" the man coughed. He didn't seem vitally wounded, but he was hurt badly enough that he couldn't rise. "I'm level 28! How strong is this thing?!"

"Level 28?!" Minaro clawed at his cheeks as he screamed, his eyes white with fear. "This jerk is almost level 30 and he practically got one shot by that boss?"

They were a level 12 mage, a level 9 warrior and a level 4 classless. If they could make any difference to the disaster at hand, Izuku didn't know how. The square was wracked with madness, with some adventurers attempting to form impromptu parties to fend off the overwhelming boss while others desperately tried to escape. Some found success, while others were captured in voracious balls of slime.

Normal townsfolk were caught up in the din as well. Some were trapped inside their shops, their doors and windows caught fast in walls of immovable sludge. Others were writhing on the ground, begging for aid or mercy as slime threatened to overtake them. The meager towns guard, low level and ill-equipped, were proving very ineffective in defending the town against its attacker.

Izuku wanted to do something. He wanted to fight, to help protect everyone. But as he watched a line of warriors fly into the air only to plummet downwards, as if wasn't even an effort on the sludge boss's part, he realized there was only one thing they could do.

He shut his eyes tight, tears budding in their corners. "We need to run!"

"Run?" Ochaco questioned, her fingers anxiously clenching and unclenching around her staff.

"THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!" Minoru wailed as he turned and immediately sprinted away, albeit he didn't get far before he was caught waist-deep in sucking sludge.

"We can't fight, we have to run! There's no other way!" Izuku admitted. He looked down at his father's rusty blade, his hand trembling. "There's no way we can win against this thing! Because… the truth is, I don't even…"

"You don't even what?" Ochaco asked, still worrying with her staff.

"I…" Izuku choked. He could feel himself crying.

"Whatever it is, it can wait!" Ochaco shook Izuku's shoulder. "We need to-"

She screamed.

Izuku's eyes broke open. He looked for Ochaco, but she was gone! He gazed over the chaotic square, at the failing defenders or the pleading victims. The sludge boss was laughing, rows of sword-like fangs curving upwards into a wild grin.

But where was the mage girl?!

Izuku heard another scream, and looked up. It was the mage girl! The boss had her tight in a slimy tentacle, pulling her towards him. From massive yellow eyes the sludge boss's beady red pupils were affixed to the struggling girl as he carried her towards him.

"No!" Izuku pleaded. "No!"

"You're that little brat who blasted apart my scouting sludge!" the boss rumbled in his titanic voice. "Your level isn't very impressive, but a Gravity Mage is just what I was looking for!" he cackled.

Sludge enveloped the helpless mage, sliding over her mouth to cut off her screams. It thickened around her waist and legs, sliding upwards to pin her arms behind her back. "I've absorbed plenty of adventurers with high defense skills, but I've been needing to add some mages to my diet! Why else do you fools think I concocted this phoney 'elite quest'?"

"T-that is so hot…" Minoru drooled as he ogled Ochaco. He continued staring at the bound mage even as the sludge swallowed him up, his lecherous remarks suppressed to mere bubbling gurgles.

"Wait… so this elite quest… it was all just a lie?!" Izuku thought, trembling. "This boss… he lured adventurers here… because he was looking to absorb a specific power from one of them?"

The sludge was quickly encasing Ochaco, who was completely powerless to stop it. The sludge boss giggled with glee as his slime consumed the girl.

Everyone who was still able to stand was now fleeing from the boss. The fight was over. The day lost.

And along with it, the mage girl's life.

Izuku stood. What could he do? Even a level 28 was nothing compared to the boss.

He gripped his sword. He started running.

What could he do? The classless Izuku who never left home? Who never even completed a single quest?

His legs carried him faster and faster.

It was pointless to even try.

He rose his blade high and cried.

All he could really do was run away. It was the only thing that would make any sense.

Izuku hacked and slashed at the sludge, even as Ochaco's body was half-submerged into the boss's body. Each slash removed a tiny splash of sludge, but it was quickly replaced.

"Eh?!" exclaimed the boss, his gigantic eyes turning down towards Izuku. "What in the world is a weakling fool like you trying to do?! You think you're some kind of hero, kid?!"

Sludge tentacles sprang up and gripped Izuku's wrists, holding them in place. Though he scowled with fear and determination, Izuku couldn't budge.

"I wouldn't be worried about your little friend, newbie! She'll only feel pain for about a minute…" the boss chided.

Sludge roped around Izuku's waist, lifting him several feet off the ground.

"You on the other hand, I'll make feel pain for MUCH longer than that!"

Izuku cried, but he didn't stop. He felt the boss's grip around his wrists weaken slightly, and with some struggle he managed to free his hands. He kept swiping and slashing at the mountainous mound of goo, though to no more avail than before. But he didn't stop.

"You little idiot!" the boss thundered.

"What is that kid doing?!" the level 28 warrior questioned as he attempted to hobble to his feet. "He's gonna die out there…"

Izuku's eyes were stinging with salty tears, his teeth locked together so hard he thought his gums would begin to bleed. But he didn't stop his attack. With each swing it felt as if his sword was growing hotter and hotter.

"AHahaha!" The boss laughed so hard that several nearby people actually fell off their feet. "What are you?! Level 2?"

"I'm…" Izuku screamed between slashes. He remembered what the mage girl said, back in the alleyway. Another slash, the blade grew hotter.

"Level…" Another slash, and another. Hotter and hotter.

"Four!" Izuku brought his blade high above his head and brought it down, burying it deep into the boss's slime. Izuku was mildly aware that his sword was now burning painfully in his hands.

"You're DEAD is what you are!"

A thick blanket of slime covered Izuku's head and face and hardened like stone. In the total darkness of the sludge, all Izuku could see in his mind was the mage's body being helplessly consumed by the boss. It couldn't happen like that. He wouldn't let it. There was no way… No way…

With strength he didn't even know he had, Izuku broke his sword out of the sludge and, his face completely obscured in slime, slashed the boss once again.

"That kid is still going?!" a Rogue said as she watched the hapless battle from a far away sideline.

"Goodbye, level 4 nobody!" the boss fumed. The sludge choked Izuku, forcing its way into his mouth and down his throat. His fingers buckled, his entire body lurched. Something in his brain told him this was really it, he was going to die.

He could still see the mage girl, he knew she still needed help. How could he die without helping? All those hours he spent reading the legend of ALL BRIGHT. All the hopes and aspiration he had. What was all of it for?

Izuku didn't even think. His hands automatically readied his blade for another attack.

"There's no way!" another bystander shouted.

With all his strength, Izuku brought the sword down onto the sludge boss. Against the oppression of the slime that covered almost his entire body, however, Izuku could only manage to bring the very edge of the blade to his target.

That was it. He was finished…

The boss screamed in pain. Metal sizzled against slime and a black smoke coiled from the tip of Izuku's blade. Ochaco, nearly entirely enveloped in the boss's body, was spat out to her waist.

"H-hey! What?! Did he just hurt the boss?" a voice cried.

"There's no way! That thing has to be level 60!"

"I can see it… something burnt the boss! I think it was the kid's sword!"

Izuku was suddenly aware that he was on his knees, huffing and sputtering on the ground. The boss had dropped him. He wiped a patch of sticky foam from his mouth and tried to find his feet. He was weak, and his sword was strangely burning hot, though it did not seem to bring him any harm to hold it in his hand.

"AAARRGH!" cried the boss. His giant yellow eyes were cobwebbed with thick black veins. "What did you do to me?! What did you do to me, you little wretch?!"

Izuku heard none of it. He didn't see any of it. He wasn't there anymore. He was somewhere else. Standing in a black void. Where was he?

From somewhere out in the blackness, Izuku could not tell if it was far or near, a flame kindled to life. Soon, it turned into a mighty blaze. Torrents of bright flame billowed up into the nothingness, and as they did they began to take shape.

First a pair of legs, then a body. Arms, a head. A long flowing cloak of flame, and hair that flowed into two wild strands like horns.

Was Izuku dead? Did he die? Is this what you see when you die?

"HAHAHA," the fiery warrior laughed.

"YOU KNEW YOU COULDN'T BEAT THAT BOSS. BUT YOU WENT INTO IT ANYWAYS."

"You… you mean me?" Izuku asked. Was he talking to the fire?

"THAT'S STUPID, KID. BUT IT'S THE KIND OF STUPID THAT MAKES A HERO."

Izuku said nothing, he simply floated there silently in the void.

"MY BODY IS NO MORE, BUT MY SPIRIT HAS LIVED INSIDE YOUR CRAPPY SWORD FOR GENERATIONS! AND NOW, IN YOU, HAS MY POWER FOUND A WORTHY SUCCESSOR."

"Am I dead?" Izuku questioned.

"FAR FROM IT! YOU WILL BE THE NEW HERO THAT CARRIES THE TORCH! YOU WILL BE THE ONE WHO BRINGS PEACE AND JUSTICE TO THE REALM! YOU WILL BE… SUN FOR ALL!"

"I don't know what that means…"

"AHAHAHA!"

Izuku was flung back into reality. The sludge boss towered before him, angry and violent. Izuku peered up and noticed that Ochaco was now partly freed from the slime!

Izuku shook his head. He didn't know what happened, and he didn't have time to care. He readied his blade for another strike, though he recoiled for a moment as light struck him in his eye. His blade had caught the light of the sun, and was shining peerlessly.

That… didn't make sense. His blade was an old sword, coated with rust and pathetically dull at the edges. But it didn't matter right now.

"YOU ARE SUN FOR ALL, KID. DON'T MAKE ME REGRET PICKING YOU, NOW!"

"I'll crush you!" screamed the boss. A massive slime tentacle slammed down upon Izuku. Izuku slashed upwards to meet the attack, rending through it with ease.

"AAAAAAAAAAGHHH!" the boss lurched backwards in pain. From the corner of his vision, Izuku saw the half-conscious body of Ochaco ejected completely from the boss.

"EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW YOU COULDN'T DO A THING TO HELP, YOUR BODY AUTOMATICALLY REACTED AGAINST YOUR OWN BETTER JUDGMENT. THAT IS THE KIND OF INITIATIVE A TRUE HERO REALLY NEEDS."

Izuku cut deep into the sludge boss, his blade leaving a wake of fuming singes. The boss doubled down in agony against the assault.

"DEFEAT THIS VILLAIN! PROCLAIM THE WORDS OF ALL THOSE BEFORE AND AFTER YOU! GO BEYOND… PLUS ULTRA!"

"I have no idea what that means!" Izuku shouted.

"NEITHER DO I!"

"Go beyond!" Izuku brought his blade up high. More tentacles threw themselves at him, but he cut them down.

"Plus…" Izuku leapt into the air, heaving his gleaming blade behind his head to prepare for a mighty thrust.

"Ultra!"

The screams of the sludge boss were quickly drowned out by the thunderclap of sizzling heat and light that completely incinerated Izuku's foe. A gust of hot air rippled out in all directions from the point of Izuku's final strike, kicking up clouds of dust and rattling store signs on their chain hinges.

As the boss was defeated, so too did his creations dissipate. All around the square and throughout the village people were freed from their sludgey tombs, left unharmed in gooey puddles.

Izuku stood, barely able to keep on his feet. His entire body hurt and his vision was a bit blurry, but he was aware of what had happened. Somehow, though it couldn't be true, he had been victorious. He had won.

A droplet of rain struck the ground. Several others followed suit, before the entire square was subject to a light downpour.

"D-did his attack… change the weather?" a bewildered man asked as he held a hand out to catch the falling droplets.

"No, I think it was always supposed to rain today," an old woman answered as she picked herself up from a puddle of slime.

"Oh,"

Izuku stood, his sword dulled and rusty. The villain's last traces of slime exploded into clouds of smoke. 2,300 XP.

Izuku leveled up… Eight times!

+14 to Strength!

+17 to Constitution!

+8 to Endurance!

+2 to Speed!

Izuku felt his body bristle with new power. It might have felt good, if he wasn't so light headed. Was it really over? Did he really win? Or… did he… die?

The world turned black and Izuku fell to the ground. His blade, even as he lost consciousness, was firmly in his hand.


End file.
